“The minute I heard Kobe [Bryant] say he had one more ring than Shaq, I said to Danny [Ainge], ‘Let’s go get Shaq,’ and it happened,” said [Celtics primary owner Wyc] Grousbeck.

“This is a very, very proud bunch of guys, the champions from ’08. And now with Jermaine and Shaq and Delonte, who haven’t been champions with us, this could be a good group. We’ve got huge challenges but we reloaded this summer. We really want banner No. 18.”

How much the aging Shaq and his defensive freelancing really helps the Celtics remains to be seen. He (and Jermaine O’Neal) provides some dept and offense along the front line, if everyone can stay healthy and not regress too much.

The NBA is fixed. Did you watch the last 10 minutes of game 7? They wanted to create this kind of drama for 2010. It’s like “professional” wrestling. It’s not a real sport anymore. If you want to see basketball, watch college hoops.

The officiating in the finals was some of the worst I’ve ever seen that is for sure. It was disgusting at times. If it happens again,then I am done with the NBA. Especially the no calls on
Gasol’s traveling/stumbling.

I agree whole-heartedly. The NBA is a joke. I watch it the same way my kid watches WWE “Professional Wrestling”. Donaghee showed the NBA for what it really is. On 60 minutes he said, “it’s just like pro-wrestling. It’s all contrived and predetermined in that the league and refs have their favorites. In a league where the smallest hand touch / contact can be called a foul and some players are allowed 3 to 3 1/2 steps, while others only 1 1/2, it’s way to easy to determine outcomes.

Shaq was always the most overrated player in basketball. Once the refs started calling charges on him instead letting him plow over anyone in his way at will, the real Shaq was revealed. He is no better than Greg Kite was, he was just allowed to get away with his non-stop fouls and Kite (the human foul) wasn’t.

Shaq was a dominant force for many years and unquestionably deserves such recognition as one of the best to ever play the game. Can he still contribute? Of course but certainly limited do to size and condition. When he was with the Lakers he quit trying to be in condition and wanted to rest on his past accomplishments perhaps thinking he had the ability to turn it on and off at will. You can fool some of the people all of the time….but you can’t fool mother nature. He is never going to be what he was for more than a quarter of a game.

I think all of you are one or two Laker’s Championship banners from becoming delusional. The NBA is fixed. Are you serious! Show me a professional sport were the final outcome is not controversial if the final score was close. Coulda, shoulda, would had. Most of you Bostonians are acting like total losers! Summer is over and you’re still bitter? I can only imagine how your Summer was. A glass half empty kind of Sunsets. Poor babies! The Superior team won, Bottom line! If you have NBA TV, like I hope most of you do! will see the replay where Boston ran out of gas and started to commit silly fouls mostly in the four quarter. What brought your team down was REBOUNDS, just ask Garnet how many Kobe had. Please stop your whining. Act like you have One more banner than the Lakers. If it wasn’t for Larry Bird I wouldn’t respect your place in NBA history, since you won your titles back in the 60’s. By your logic if the NBA was fixed then most people will cast doubt on how you got all those banners back in the day. Look your owner is not stupid, what better way to motivate Shaq than to go against Kobe. But think about that 4 a minute and reverse the names in order. Do you want to motivate,,, Kobe, some more?Mmmm. As a Laker’s fan, is hard for me to accept that Shaq sold out like that. Look I hope you guys make it to the finals and we can do it again. Truth be told, if everyone is healthy, Bynum, and Perkins, this match up is what the NBA dreams of having. So count yourself lucky if you get past the heat, because the Purple and Gold will for sure represent the West. The Lakers are the Champs until someone else proves it! Oh yeah, in the meantime, quit your whining!

DavesNotHere, the Celtics have won 17 NBA championships and you say that they’ve always sucked? Given that the Lakers have only won 16 NBA championships, that would mean that they’ve sucked even worse than the Celtics. The Bulls have the third most NBA championships (6 NBA titles), and the Spurs have the fourth most (4 NBA titles). You really should try to think before you write, otherwise you just end up looking like the idiot you are.

uhhhh….the lakers franchise have won 21 championships, don’t forget the 5 in Minneapolis. The LOS ANGELES Lakers have won 16, maybe you should think before you write idiot. Or at least specify the city.

Lakersfan, when I wrote that the Lakers have won 16 NBA championships, I was referring to the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers. They won 5 championships in Minneapolis (1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, and 1954). They moved to LA in 1960, and have won 11 titles since then (1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010). In other words, the LOS ANGELES Lakers have won 11 championships. If you’re going to call me an idiot, could you at least get your facts straight?

Yeah, those finals were fixed!!! The Lakers should of ended the game in 5 or 6 games if Boston did’nt pay the refs. Did you see all the illegal screens and fouling that boston made that were’nt called? Rondo grabs Odom’s arm and they give the ball out of bounds to Boston?!? KG slaps gasol across the arms during a fast break and there is no call? That would have been number 5 of KG, game over at that point. And what’s with KG slapping the ball out of bounds and the refs saying it was off of Gasol. Too many boston calls that changed the games. I don’t even want to talk about how pierce would trip over his own feet and Artest getting the call. They wanted a game 7 for the ratings, but the Lakers should of taken it in at least 5 games if it was’nt for Boston paying the refs.

Shaq is the Diesel that’s run out of fuel, time for him to hang it up and play sheriff. Kobe is one ring ahead of Shaq and will be up two rings as Kobe Bryant, the world’s greatest basketball player, and the Repeat World Champion Lakers Threepeat in June! The Celtics were foolish to get yet another big man who will become disgruntled warming the bench. I still hope that Boston beats out the Heatstroke and Tragic to meet the Lakers for the title again. Lakers have more revenge against the Ancient Celtics to perform.

I’ve been a Laker fan since I watched my first NBA game on TV (88 Finals). I’ve watched Shaq through his 3 (almost 4) rings, read both of Phil Jackson’s books, and even read Shaq’s “Shaq Talks Back”. And from watching him play and reading those books, I can say that Shaq is at his best when he’s angry. That’s how Phil got the most out of Shaq, by taking constant little jabs at Shaq to get him to shape up and play like the monster he was in the 2000-2002 seasons. When Shaq left LA for Miami, he had to prove himself again and he did. Thanks to Kobe’s hubris, Shaq now has another reason to chase a ring. The ONLY question is, is Shaq capable with his old age (see Favre in his first 2 games so far)? I’m hoping no.

Sal,
The only one whining is you and your fellow Laker fans, just like you all always do. There were bad calls on both teams. The Celts and Lakers were evenly matched. Losing Perkins and L.A. having the home court was the edge the Lakers needed. And be careful what you wish for Lakers – you may just get the Celtics in the Finals again.

WITH SHAQ WEARING THE HATED GREEN ALL LAKER FANS AND ESPECIALLY JERRY WEST WHO DESPISES THE CELTICS HAS SEALED THAT SHAQ’S FUTURE JERSEY WILL NEVER HANG ON THE “STAPLES RAFTERS” WITH ALL LAKER GREATS (WEST, BAYLOR, CHAMBERLAIN,MAGIC, WORTHY, GOODRICH,CHICK HEARN,) ALL THESE LAKER GREATS DID NOT BAD MOUTH THE LAKER OWNERS AND WERE LOYAL TO THE LAKER ORGANIZATION TO THE END OF THIER FABULOUS CAREERS. SHAQ U BLEW IT BIG TIME. WHEN AND NOT IF THE LAKERS PASS THE CELTICS FOR MOST NBA TITLES WILL I THEN BE ABLE TO DIE IN PEACE WITH A SMILE.